Petition for Street Closures

Orem residents living around UVU have been prompted to submit a petition that would block certain intersections around the school due to escalating traffic problems.

As the school continues to grow, the amount of cars follows suit. Many students drive to school and as a result there is a build up of traffic in certain residential areas. While this may seem like a minor inconvenience to those driving, residents that live near the school have more than just the backed up traffic to deal with.

Lynda Seckletstewa has lived in her home next to UVU for about 20 years and said that there has been a problem with traffic for at least 15.

“Too many cars fail to yield and obey traffic rules when going through these streets,” she said. But the biggest problem Seckletstewa has faced is the students parking.

“Student’s aren’t paying the heavy-duty taxes that would give them the right to park here,” Seckletstewa said.

While there are signs to warn students not to park in these residential areas, Seckletstewa said she has still had to deal with cars crowding around her house and the surrounding streets.

Other residents that feel the same have put in a petition to the city of Orem to close off certain intersections to students.

Paul Goodrich, a transportation engineer for Orem has been assigned to assist with this project. The intersections under review are 800 S. and 800 W., 800 S. and 400 W., 960 S. and 400 W. as well as 1200 S. and 400 W. Goodrich has enlisted the help of students to conduct a survey to monitor the amount of traffic going through these intersections and to see if it can be determined if blocking off these streets would indeed help the residents.

The only problem Goodrich sees is that there might be back up on other streets. He related the situation to irrigation ditches.

“When there is too much water in the ditch the water will overflow and find other ditches to flow into,” Goodrich said.

Surveys are currently underway and results are still pending.